DMV Mystery
by Scott Hardie on December 14, 2006
My last car, a 1996 Mercury, was registered in my mother's name, so every year in December (the month of her birthday), the registration sticker would be delivered to her at her house and she'd have to pass it to me to put on the license plate. No big deal.
A few months ago, I bought a 2007 Dodge in my name, though she co-signed the credit application since I had no credit history. The old license plate was transferred to the new car, but I was under the impression that the dealer took care of the paperwork with the Florida DMV.
Here's the mystery. A new registration sticker has arrived in December (her month not mine), for my car's license plate, delivered to her name at my apartment. At first I just assumed that the dealer must have registered the new car in her name by mistake, but then I noticed the fine print: The registration is for a 2005 Lincoln, her car that's in her garage as I type this, that she bought two years ago. The Dodge dealer had no idea what car she drove, so this couldn't have been the dealer's mistake.
What kind of mix-up does it take at a DMV to transfer a 2005 Lincoln's registration to a 2007 Dodge's license plate at an entirely different address without anyone asking? The question that troubles me more is, just how much bureaucratic paperwork is it going to take to solve this before my license plate expires on New Years?
One Reply to DMV Mystery
Logical Operator
The creator of Funeratic, Scott Hardie, blogs about running this site, losing weight, and other passions including his wife Kelly, his friends, movies, gaming, and Florida. Read more »
Things You Realize at the Top of a 40-Story Ferris Wheel
Kelly and I just got back from a two-day getaway to Orlando to celebrate our anniversary. No theme parks; we've been to them many times and they're jammed with people right now anyway. We tried small local attractions instead. Go »Bogus
You know what I bet would sell really well to people who want to be hipsters and don't get it? A "Wyld Stallyns" t-shirt. Go »I Am Not Larry David
Last night, Kelly and I joined some friends from work at Tropicana Field to watch the Rays lose to the Blue Jays, something we do from time to time. In the second inning, I caught a foul ball that came wildly bouncing around our section. Everybody in our group got a kick out of it, and I savored the feeling. Go »Not Exactly Red Hot
Her: "What's that CD you're holding?" Me: "Chili Peppers. I still haven't gotten over their album from last summer." Go »His Name is Bond
[Spoilers for Casino Royale.] One of my favorite bits of any fan-invented mythology is the identity of 007: It is held by some series fans (and me) that "James Bond" is merely a codename. When one Bond is killed or retires, another one takes his place and assumes the same name, which is why you see a different actor every decade and the man doesn't age despite having been around since the Kennedy administration. Go »
Scott Hardie | December 23, 2006
Some resolution: Upon comparing, my mom and I realized that our license plates are only one number apart. Her car's December registration was mailed to her at my address, which only means she needs to inform the DMV of an address change. It's weird such an error would occur, but at least it's not the much bigger and baffling error that it seemed to be.